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Show BISMARCK JUSTIFIED THE RIGHT OF ANGARY. To the man uninformed in interna- I tional law, the arbitrary taking over of the Dutch ships In British aud Amerl-Can Amerl-Can waters seems high-handed, but it1 is not. The act Is according to International Inter-national law, and. therefore, has no elements of abuse of rights. The Standard suggests though the advisability advisa-bility of erasing all laws of this kind when the nations, at the end of this war, meet to establish tho basis of a lasting peace. Whfle neutral property may be appropriated by warring nations, na-tions, the power to Involve the world in a great war will be present. A most elucidating article on this subject appears In the New York Commercial-Chronicle, from which these excerpts ate taken. What is called "the belligerent right of angary" (from a Greek word describing certain forms of compul-. compul-. sory service) Is classified by all text-books text-books on International law as a war-i war-i time power, recognized by international internation-al theory and practice during at least a century and a half. The general principle is set forth as follows: That neutral properly In a belligerent state I is, during the process of hostilities, "subject to all such exceptional measures meas-ures as the exigencies of war render I necessary, provided that no unjust dls-I dls-I crimination is made in heir applica-l applica-l tlon between subjects and foreigners." I The precedents cited, which are I very' numerous and which occur In many wars, emphasize the facts, first, ' of necessity before the principle Is Invoked; In-voked; second, of the customary' Invoking In-voking of such right over neutral shipping ship-ping in order "to transport soldiers, munitions or other Instruments of war," and, third, of the rule for payment pay-ment of Just compensation. As far back as the nineteenth century an eminent Dutch publicist wrote that usage "has Introduced the exercise of this rltrbt " It was practiced in the (ollowini the French revolution, and wan recocnized as a right In many subsequent treaties, through provisions provi-sions which were occasionally framed, nb1 in abolish, but to regulate it Han- ni Taylor. In hi- (realise on interna-ttonaJ interna-ttonaJ law. published In 1901, gives these Interesting particulars of a more recent exercise of the right: "The most recent examples of the Ken Ise of the 'right of angary' occurred oc-curred during the Franco- Truss lan war, when it was invoked as a Jnsti-fication Jnsti-fication for the appropriation of per-Onal per-Onal property belonging to Swiss, Austrian and British subjects. Be-i Be-i 600 and 700 railway carriages Ik longing to the ("Vntral Swiss railway. rail-way. In addition to a considernblr quantity of Austrian rolling stock, WOTt siled for military purposes by the German authorities of Alsace, who appear to have retained the property so seized for some time. A clearer .md more important application of the riht crew out of the seizure, almost at the same moment, of six British merchant vossels by the German general gen-eral commanding at Ronan, who sunk them In the Seine at Duclalr to pre vent French gunboats from running up the river In order to rut off communication commun-ication between the German corps op-1 orating on both banks." In these instances the seizure of ; neutral property did not even occur i within the territorial limits of the government gov-ernment which seized and used it. And tlii ii.i ' n I i t i 1 1 ,11- t hu I I V.M 1 1 I I '.IK- marey, when officially defending the two actions, declared that "the measure meas-ure in question, though exceptional in ii i nature, did not overstep the bounds of international usage." This last-named last-named pn cedent Is not without particular partic-ular Interest, since It Is Germany who is at present protesting most angrlh against our exercise of tho right." |